Invoice states and outstanding balance

States

  • Draft invoices are invoices that need to be processed manually for the customer to receive the invoice or be charged;
  • Sent invoices have been emailed to the customer and are not yet marked as paid in the system;
  • Pending invoices have had a charge submitted to the payment gateway and are awaiting confirmation of whether the payment was successful. This applies to payment methods that process asynchronously, such as Direct Debit and SEPA;
  • Failed invoices have had a charge attempted on the customer's registered payment method but have failed for whatever reason (e.g. expired card). Customers receive a failed invoice email automatically notifying them that the charge failed and requesting them to update their payment details;
  • Delayed invoices have been generated with a future scheduled charge date. This only applies to card payment methods and if your account generates invoices ahead of the charge date;
  • Overdue invoices have been sent to a customer but remain unpaid after the number of days you have set.
  • Paid invoices have had the whole payment amount settled resulting in a balance of 0. Once an invoice is marked as paid, customers automatically receive a receipt email;
  • Deleted invoices that have been deleted are view-only in the system, as deleted invoices cannot be retrieved.

Pending invoices

An invoice moves to Pending state once a charge has been submitted to the payment gateway and the system is waiting for confirmation. This applies to payment methods that process asynchronously, such as Direct Debit (SEPA, BACS, ACH).While an invoice is in Pending state:
  • Editing is restricted in the Admin Portal. Payments cannot be added, edited, or deleted on the invoice.
  • A banner on the invoice detail page indicates that the charge is being processed.
  • The system guards against duplicate charges. If the invoice was already resolved before reaching Pending state, a second charge will not be initiated.
The invoice moves to Paid if the payment succeeds, or to Failed if it is rejected by the gateway.

Failed invoices

If payment is rejected by the payment gateway, the invoice is marked as Failed. The reason for the failed payment is logged in the History section at the bottom of the invoice detail page. The customer receives a failed invoice email notifying them that the payment failed and providing instructions on how to update their registered payment method. Operations staff also receive a notification.Once payment details have been updated, you can retry the charge by clicking Charge customer to attempt to process the payment again. If successful, the system automatically logs the payment, marks the invoice as Paid, and sends a receipt email to the customer.You can also use the auto-retry failed payments feature, which automatically retries the charge on a 1, 3, 5, and 7 day schedule without any manual intervention.

Delayed invoices

Note: Delayed invoices only apply to accounts configured to generate invoices ahead of the scheduled charge date. If your account generates invoices on the charge date itself, you will not see this state.

When a customer has a payment method on file and an invoice is generated before the scheduled charge date, the invoice enters a Delayed state. The system holds the invoice until the charge date, at which point it automatically attempts to collect payment.
Admins can take action on a delayed invoice at any time before the charge date:
  1. Open the delayed invoice.
  2. Use the available options to manually click Send invoice or Charge customer as needed.
If the invoice is manually resolved before the scheduled charge date (for example, an admin charges it or marks it as paid), the scheduled automatic charge is skipped. This prevents the customer from being charged twice.

Delayed charge notification email
An optional email template called Invoice (delayed charge notification) can be enabled to automatically notify customers when an invoice enters a Delayed state. The email informs the customer of the upcoming charge date and the payment method that will be used.This template is disabled by default. If your business is required to notify customers in advance of charges (for example, for UK Direct Debit compliance), enable this template under Settings > Email templates.

Overdue invoices

If you have enabled the Invoice overdue age setting in your instance settings, invoices are automatically marked as Overdue if they have been sent to a customer but remain unpaid after the number of days you have set. This is also reflected on the user page, unit page, and site page so that you can easily prioritize follow-ups. Overdue invoices are prominently marked in red on the list.

Outstanding balance

In the case of partial payments, the remaining balance is displayed in parentheses. If a partial payment is overdue, it is displayed in red, but the remaining balance is still shown in parentheses.

FAQ

What is the difference between Delayed and Pending?Delayed means the invoice is waiting for a future scheduled charge date and has not been charged yet. Pending means a charge has already been submitted to the payment gateway and the system is waiting for a response. You can still take manual action on a Delayed invoice. Editing is restricted on a Pending invoice.Can I edit an invoice while it is in Pending state?No. While an invoice is Pending, payments cannot be added, edited, or deleted in the Admin Portal. This restriction prevents duplicate charges while the gateway is processing the payment.What happens if I manually pay or charge a Delayed invoice before the charge date?The scheduled automatic charge is cancelled. The system detects that the invoice has already been resolved and skips the charge, preventing the customer from being charged twice.Does the customer receive a notification when an invoice is delayed?Only if the Invoice (delayed charge notification) email template is enabled on your instance. This template is disabled by default.What happens when an invoice fails?If a charge is rejected by the payment gateway, the invoice is marked as Failed. The reason is logged in the History section. A failed invoice email is sent to the customer with instructions to update their payment method, and operations staff also receive a notification. Once the payment method is updated, you can retry the charge using the Charge customer button, or let the auto-retry system handle it automatically.How are overdue invoices handled?If the Invoice overdue age setting is enabled, invoices become Overdue after a set number of days without payment. Overdue invoices are marked in red on user, unit, and site pages for easy follow-up.Are Pending invoices included in the unpaid balance?Yes. Pending, Sent, and Failed invoices all count toward the unpaid balance displayed on a rental. If a customer has a Pending invoice at the time of a scheduled move-out, the system displays an unpaid invoice warning to the admin.
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